The Matheson History Museum has announced its 2026 Fall Program Series, featuring author talks, presentations on Native American history, a film screening, the return of the annual Art from the Archives exhibition and other programs.
All programs are free unless otherwise stated. Registration and additional information are available at mathesonmuseum.org/events. The Matheson History Museum is located at 513 E. University Ave. in Gainesville.
The fall schedule includes:
- Thursday, Oct. 1, 7 p.m. — “WE ARE PAN: A Graphic Novel About Revolution, Immigration, and the Love of Family” with Andre Frattino
- Saturday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. — “Preserving Your Family Heirlooms” with Elise LeCompte
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 7 p.m. — “When the Sky Speaks and the Body Trembles: Timucua Spiritual Practices in Colonial Florida” with Dr. George Aaron Broadwell
- Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6 p.m. — “Becoming Buffalo” film screening with Montana Cypress
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m. — “The ‘Nam AC-48” with Andy Adkins
- Saturday, Nov. 14, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. — Art from the Archives exhibition opening
- Wednesday, Nov. 18, 7 p.m. — “B-Roll: Life in Front of the Blackboard and Behind the Lens” with Steve Robitaille
- Wednesday, Dec. 2, 6 p.m. — Matheson Members’ Holiday Sip and Shop
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 4 p.m. — Hoggtowne Bronze Christmas Concert
The museum’s Second Saturdays at Sweetwater series is currently paused while the Matheson House Rehabilitation Project is underway.
‘Chains of Steele: Money, Power, and Influence’
The Matheson History Museum’s 2026 Main Exhibit Hall exhibition, “Chains of Steele: Money, Power, and Influence,” explores two ancestors of Gainesville’s Matheson family, Augustus and Augusta Steele, and their relationships with and benefits from the institution of American slavery.
The exhibition is the result of a year and a half of research, planning and writing. It draws on unique documents preserved in the museum’s archives to examine Augustus Steele’s life and the choices that led him from Massachusetts, where he was born in 1792, to becoming a devoted Confederate official, advocate for slavery and enslaver.
The exhibition also examines the life of his only child, Augusta, who was part of the last generation to grow up supported by slavery. She turned 18 in 1865, the year emancipation reached Florida and the Confederacy collapsed. Her life after emancipation illustrates the long-lasting impacts of slavery on American history.
“Chains of Steele” features rarely displayed Matheson family photographs, excerpts from the family’s papers and a memorial to the people enslaved by the Steeles, including the first biographies written about those individuals.
The museum also thanked Hector Framing and Gallery for loaning antique frames for the memorial wall.
For more information, contact Executive Director Salvatore Cumella at SCumella@mathesonmuseum.org or 352-378-2280, or visit Matheson History Museum.